- Location: Apple Valley, Minnesota, United States
- Size: Approximately 485 acres
- Founded: Opened in 1978
- Focus: A zoological park dedicated to conservation, education, and recreation
- Exhibits: Divided into various themed areas showcasing animals from different regions and habitats
- Tropical Rainforest: Home to various tropical species like monkeys, birds, and reptiles
- Medtronic Minnesota Trail: Showcasing native Minnesota wildlife, including wolves, bears, and bald eagles
- Discovery Bay: Features marine life and a popular sea otter exhibit
- Russia’s Grizzly Coast: Simulates a Russian coastal habitat, featuring Amur tigers and other animals
- Conservation Efforts: Actively involved in conservation projects, both locally and globally
- Education: Offers programs, classes, and events for visitors of all ages to learn about animals and ecosystems
- Events: Hosts special events, concerts, and seasonal celebrations
- Interactive Experiences: Provides opportunities for hands-on learning and animal interactions
- Visitor Experience: Offers dining options, gift shops, and play areas for children
- Environmental Initiatives: Strives to be environmentally sustainable through practices like recycling and energy conservation
- Research: Engages in research collaborations to enhance animal care and conservation efforts
- Community Engagement: Partners with schools, organizations, and communities for educational and outreach activities
- Accreditation: Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)
- Mission: To connect people, animals, and the natural world to save wildlife
Minnesota Zoo, situated in the city of Apple Valley in Minnesota, is a ritzy and provocative destination, which enchants animal lovers from divergent regions of the earth. This AZA commissioned zoo location has won the hearts of many visitors with its dumbfounding exhibitions, trails, and the impressive variety of animals accommodating in its resplendent natural habitations.
Minnesota Zoo Features
Attending to over 504 variant species of animals, the zoo demonstrates six of the most spectacular trails of the city, a motion ZooMobile and a bird display. The features exhibited at the zoo make extraordinary attempts to gather luxuriant fun and amusement for the viewers.
Medtronic Minnesota Trail
Along with long staying occupants such as lynx, beaver, puma, and otter, the Medtronic Minnesota Trail makes available some noteworthy presentations of different animal varieties like gray wolves, coyotes, and raccoons. One of the excellent extensions of this trail is the ‘Trailhead’, which supports as a hearty and hospitable lodge to provide placidity to the visitors. Minor Minnesota’s preferred animals such as salamanders, frogs, and turtles are also presented here in an unequaled fashion. Girded by indigenous shrubs and trees, the Wild Bird Deck allows the bird lovers to educate themselves about bird determination and bird watching. Besides, the visitors learn about productive strategies on landscaping at the deck.
World of Birds Show
Offering a perfect accumulation of delectation and education, the World of Birds Show fascinates its guests with great backgrounds displaying majestic owls, talking parrots, soaring hawks, and other pleasant feathered species of the earth. The feature punctuates on significance of earthy habitats, variableness of animals on the planet, and typical attributes of bird species.
Russia’s Grizzly Coast
Depicting one of the actual woody spaces of the globe, Russia’s Grizzly Coast saliently reveals the most dramatic forest animals species such as wild boar, brown bear, Amur tiger, Amur Leopard, sea otter, etc. The viewers get to hear the rollicking cries of the sea otters and get acquainted with the sensational scenes of the zoo. Greenly dense forests, hot erupting volcanoes, and striking rocky coastline form great pictures at this singular feature of the zoo. Moreover, the large sized bears wandering near frothy mud pots and vaporing geysers elegantly add up to the beautifying experience of the visitors.
Discovery Bay: United Healthcare Marine Education Center
The zoo’s special feature, Discovery Bay: United Healthcare Marine Education Center, impels the viewers to testify the conspicuous smashers of the deep world. This authentic bay is known to offer great attention and care for rays, sharks, and other embellishing aquatic life creatures. The reciprocal tide pool and estuary displayed at this notifying feature of the zoo permit the aquatic animal adorers to get close to the impressive looking marine life species, including sea anemones, sea stars, sharks, etc. The virtually flying creature of the sea, the colossus stingrays, can be best analyzed at the bay.
Northern Trail
The occupants at the Northern Trail thrive well in the elongated and chilly winters of Minnesota. Based on the time of the year, the unparalleled and gallant Amur tigers are seen larking in their trenches or in the snowfall at the trail. The fantastical Monorail rendering climate controlled ease facilitated by the zoo helps the visitors to get involved in the best-loved scenes of this significantly designed trail. Exhibiting the inventive adjustments for endurance, the imposing moose and woodland caribou gather outstanding visuals for the viewers. Other prominent species housed at this foppish trail include goitered gazelle, dhole, bison, trumpeter swan, musk ox, snow monkey, etc.
Tropics Trail
Incorporating the fair orchids, including profuse and chromatic foliage, the Tropics Trail takes the visitors on an exhilarating journey to get familiar with the veritable realm of rain forest. A few of the galvanizing animal categories such as the spry tree kangaroos, speculative gibbons, and frolicking lemurs wait at the trail to let the visitors discover some outstanding eyeshots. Loaded with unique and rarely found species, many of the ‘biodiversity hotspots’ spaces can be remarkably viewed at the trail along with the incomparable beauty of wildlife. The unique animal varieties exhibited here are toucan, macaque, fruit bat, tapir, bali mynah, and others.
Wells Fargo Family Farm
Initiated with a view to involve children and family members in the aesthetic combination of nature and animals, the Wells Fargo Family Farm has been a grand addition of the zoo. Most of the agrarian, community, and citified students have found interest in learning about farming and the procedure of transfer of food from farm to the serving tables. The exhibit stresses on the responsibility of farmers for sustaining the earthy assets and supplying agrarian merchandise.
Minnesota Zoo Conservation
With the help of captive management plans and green initiatives, the working members of the zoo play a crucial role contributing to the preservation of endangered animal varieties. These exquisite programs help to ensure the furtherance of protection, conservation, investigation, and enlightenment about the wildlife environments. On the other hand, the plans act as genetic insurance policies that help to reduce the extinction of wild animal species. Some of the important captive management plans incorporated by the zoo are Endangered and Threatened Species, Species Survival Plan (SSP), Taxon Advisory Groups, etc. The zoo dedicates itself in the preparation of making an optimistic impingement on the surrounding and the entire world through definite green practices such as Recycle for Rainforests, Green Design, Reuse, etc.
Minnesota Zoo Education
Children along with youngsters find great pleasure and fun in learning about the wildlife and the natural habitations of the earthly species at the zoo. The educators working for the zoo possess years of experience in connecting the learners with the wildlife destinations and the animal species inhabited therein. The educational programs are distinctively isolated as per the ages of the visitors. The popular teens and adult programs of the zoo help the young minds to inculcate good knowledge about various animal categories and their surroundings in a special way. Likewise, the other programs, including programs for kids, community groups, schools, etc., also possess surprising elements that fancy the learning experience of the travelers.
Minnesota Zoo Hotels
After a long day at the zoo, the visitors generally seek for some cool and pleasant place to spend the rest of the day. The hotels settled near this astounding zoo destination are guest friendly and assure the visitors of some stunning accommodating experiences.
GrandStay Hotel and Conference
Supplying dignified business hotel apartments, fabulous accommodation offers, and commodious premises, the GrandStay Hotel and Conference is Minnesota’s awe-inspiring hotel, which is favored by most of the zoo visitors. The guests usually receive a new and enchanting experience at the health and recreational extensions of this staggering hotel destination. The hotel’s aesthetic outdoor sport court, indoor pool, whirlpool, and exercise installation strive to render the top-quality recreational comfort for the guests. Besides, the hotel suites geared with wall-mounted hand dryer, fully featured kitchen, temperature control access, sophisticated bath products, full size sofa sleeper, etc., help the guests to find supreme level of consolation and relief.
LivINN Hotel
Reputed as a valuable hotel chain for furnishing refined lodging rooms, the LivINN Hotel has been on the lip of nearly every city occupant. With its graceful amenities and services, the hotel helps the guests to recall a homely environment and receive the optimum grade staying experiences. With a whirlpool tub for two, triple sheet bedding service, full size bed, and other notable amenities, the Jacuzzi Suite comes out as a perfect accommodation facility for romantic couples. Other room varieties, including Double Queen Premium, King Executive Suite, King Deluxe, etc., also effectively stand up to the expectations of the guests.
The astonishing Minnesota Zoo is not only a place to explore the unique species of animal kingdom, but is also an elegant location to learn about the conservation of threatened animal species in a stimulating setting. Make sure that you make your next vacation at this stupefying zoo destination.